JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure 13 – Big Damn (Nazi) Hero

Ah, yes, nothing like an ultimate life form leaping into the bleeding stump of a Nazi’s leg to remind me of how much I have missed JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, even though it has been gone for just a week. The winter season thus far has given me little to watch (though I hesitate to brand it a failure, because there is still more to come), but as long as great stuff like JoJo is coming out each week, then I have little to complain about! I mean, I’ll still complain, because bloggers are a bunch of whiny little shits, but still.

“Battle Tendency” has definitely been more gruesome than “Phantom Blood” so far, and it seems as if it gets grosser by the episode. The image above, for instance, made me yelp, and I quote, “Oh, Jesus Christ!” during a livewatch Saturday evening. I’m not sure if this is worse than when Santa leaped into that Nazi’s eyes the previous episode. Both scenes are quite disgusting in their own special ways. The aftermath of the leap in this episode is a bit less disgusting (no Stroheim turning into a giant fat man), but probably funnier (Stroheim getting off to Santana being inside him).

And that ending. Man.

I don’t know why I’m still surprised in this series when characters meet sudden, violent deaths. Stroheim is such a goofy, charismatic character that you figure he’ll be around for the long haul, ja? WRONG. (Well, wrong if, like me, you haven’t read the manga.) And, Straits, you figure a relatively big minor character from the previous arc will become a decent villain in this arc after making the turn to vampirism, yes? NOPE. Basically nobody is safe unless he is Joseph Joestar, because nobody can combat that level of fabulousness and improvisation. The plan with the water and sunlight? Brilliant.

The only thing more brilliant is Joseph’s line as he mocks Santana: “Calculate the Earth’s rotation before you jump in a well, shit for brains!” Joseph is truly the shining beacon of the Joestar lineage. If my suspicions are correct, though, Joseph has yet to figure out how to truly kill the ultimate life forms, yes? Santana is immobilized, of course, and would probably require a ton of blood to free himself from his stone prison, so he’s not going to be a problem for quite a long time, especially if Joseph fills in the well with a ton of cement or something. I’m guessing, however, that Joseph will eventually discover how to destroy them. No spoilers, manga readers!

Of everything in this episode, however, this may be the most awesome. Joseph is a madman. Only an unhinged person would willingly dive face first into Santana’s chest to get a peek at what makes him tick. It’s kind of weird that Santana doesn’t let Joseph phase through him totally to avoid Joseph’s attack, but perhaps that’s an exploitable weakness of this ability? Or maybe Santana was so arrogant that he believed Joseph couldn’t harm him even in this position. It didn’t seem as if he was that familiar with the Ripple powers, even though his skin rendered him invulnerable to it . . . or maybe he was just surprised that a human had these abilities? Makes me wonder what the origin of the Ripple powers is . . .

But, yes, we’ll have plenty of time to worry about that as Joseph jams to Europe for the next leg of his journey. I’m loving the increased globetrotting in this arc. It makes sense, too, because transportation is so much more advanced in this time. You’ve got cars, better trains, better boats, and aircraft. It’s much easier to get wherever you need to go; it wouldn’t make any sense for the series to remain stationary!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this here, as well. Only Joseph Joestar could take something as corny as the disappearing hand joke and make it amazing. Is that actually a sleeve Joseph is wearing? I thought that was tape wrapped around his arm, haha.

hahaha there’s just too much great stuff to use as a screenshot. Eventually these posts will turn into 50 screenshots and me saying, “Fuck it, JoJo is awesome, 10/10, anime of the year” at the end of the post.

I think it’s amazing how fresh and remarkable a protagonist Joseph still is despite this stuff being 25 years old. His thinking ability and ridiculous logic put him so far ahead of many modern shounen protags. He truly is the best.

I love his attempt to “befriend” Santana because hey, the dude only killed a few Nazis, so maybe he’s actually a good guy. Or his thought process of Ripple doesn’t work on skin -> Stab with knife and ripple -> knives don’t work -> let him eat me then ripple him. Great stuff.

It’s interesting to me that, from the JoJo’s protagonists I’ve seen, they all think in this logical way but go about it quite differently. Araki is really good at giving his battles a solid structure and differentiating them from each other. If the fights stay at the same level throughout the manga (and they definitely do in “Stardust Crusaders”), then he must be some sort of creative genius, because I have no idea how one person could think of so many different ways for battles to play out, haha.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised if this adaption continues on. The stuff they show in parts 4 & 5 make everything up to that point look mundane.

Jojo might not get the recognition it deserves in the West, but its very possibly the second most influential shonen after Dragonball. Guys like Togashi (HxH), Arakawa (FMA), and Nishio (Bakemonogatari, Medaka Box) have all cited him as their primary influence.

When the Ripple is active Santana was unable to adsorb Joseph. Added Santana does not actually need blood anymore the sleep in the pillar was different then being turned to stone by the sun. He will regenerate and turn back into flesh the second he is out of the light.

Dammit I didn’t want Stroheim to die… Yes I wanted a Nazi who was an asshole towards the wimmenz and the locals to survive… What have I become? :(

“IF THAT THING BREAKS OUT IT WILL THREATEN THE ENTIRE WORLD…” *Puts nazi devilry on-hold, proceeds to make heroic sacrifice, not for the Reich but for the sake of the entire world. What a great guy, so moe~. I really need to re-align my morals… :(

Given the fact that: “GERMAN MEDICAL SCIENCE IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD!” my guess (haven’t read the manga) is that Stroheim will somehow return to life.